Needing Hope
by Clouded-Days
Summary: After Bakura & Yami's duel on the Battle Ship, it seems to have left Ryou in a much worse condition than the others know, except for Bakura. Now even Bakura is losing hope as Ryou's health is quickly going downhill with Bakura expecting the worst COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

Lookie, a new fic. :D Well, I got this idea from watching Bakura vs. Yami duel on the Battle Ship...

Well, this is going to be a REALLY short fic. Probably only 3 chapters...

* * *

_Complete silence fell as dark, brown eyes suddenly widened, the look of hate and lust suddenly being swallowed up by fear and confusion. The teenager stumbled, struggling to stay on his feet. With a whimper, he sunk to his knees, clutching his arm tightly, the wound freshly beginning to bleed, the blood showing through once white bandages._

"_I-It hurts," he whispered, though he was barely heard. Icy wind lashed at his skin, the world about him spinning. He managed to lift his head, and tried to speak, but no words came out. Pain lashed through his arm, and he felt terribly weak._

_The boy dropped his cards, the items falling with a barely heard clatter. He managed to lift the sleeve covering a bit of the bandages, "W-What…happened to my arm…?"_

_His breath was catching in his throat, his eyes looking like those of a deer caught in headlights. "W-Where am I…?"_

_He was so confused. He heard voices, but he couldn't focus on them, and couldn't identify them. He began to tremble, hunching further over._

_His eyes widened in shock, the ring about his neck flashing in a near blinding light. The teenager was sent crashing into his soul room, the door shut. His control over his body…it was gone._

_Bakura's arm muscles tensed as he threw out his arms as the blow from Orsis came, the spirit laughing a little as his ring was ripped from his neck, being sent to the ground._

_There was a blinding flash, and then silence._

_Ryou was lying flat on his back, his mouth half-open with his limbs sprawled out. Blood was trickling down his arm, some of the crimson substance escaping the bandages. The boy's face was terribly pale, white bangs falling partially over his eyes._

_Darkness enveloped him._

-

Everyone remembered the incident. But now, it was slowly fading into a memory. The others were participating in the tournament, and Ryou was left almost always alone in his small room, lying there in unconsciousness.

The teenager's chest barely moved as he breathed, the monster's attack doing more damage than the others knew.

Bakura's false form was seated in the chair beside the teenager's bed, silently watching the boy. He knew the danger of letting his host take the blow; it would've killed him. So he had taken over, taking the attack instead. However, it left Ryou in a condition he didn't think would happen: critical.

Bakura watched as Ryou's chest seemed to tremble slightly as he breathed, the teenager's breath coming and going weakly. He merely thought of Ryou as his vessel; but, as the days passed, something else was nibbling at him, the spirit angered that no one else could tell of the boy's unstable condition. His host's body was too weak to be possessed…

_They'd better figure it out soon, or the kid's going to die…_

The realization slowly washed over Bakura. If Ryou died… No. He didn't want to think about that…

* * *

Bakura's eyes narrowed further, the Yami glaring up at the ceiling of his soul room. He was bored out of his mind. There was a tinge of _something _in his stomach…was it worry? 

Bakura growled, rising to his feet, and walked out into the short, darkened hallway. He crossed the room, and stopped in front of Ryou's door. He slowly took the handle in his right hand, noting how cold it felt… The thief pushed the door open.

Bakura slowly went inside, and shut the door behind him. He gave a slow look around at the white walls, splatters of black on them, a picture hanging over the lone bed pushed in one corner. _The Change of Heart…_

Bakura walked across the room over to the single window in the wall, leaning a little on the sill, and looked out. All he could see was vast, infinite darkness. Bakura slowly went over to the bed, peering down at his host.

Ryou's eyes were closed, his mouth open a little, thin sheets pulled over his skinny body. _Has he gotten…paler? _Bakura wondered, staring at the pale skin of his hikari.

Bakura continued to stare down at his light, the teenager's chest moving in a rhythmic pattern, although it was slow, and his breathing was rather light. The minutes passed…

Bakura couldn't take it anymore.

"OPEN YOUR EYES ALREADY, RYOU!" He bellowed, roughly grabbing hold of his host's shirt collar, shaking Ryou's body as he yelled. "OPEN YOUR EYES!"

Ryou's form only moved about limply in Bakura's hands.

Bakura roughly shoved him back down onto the bed, and crossed his arms, glaring at the floor. _/Ryou./ _He said simply through the mind link, his eyes darkening.

There wasn't a response.

Bakura grabbed hold of Ryou's shirt again, shaking him madly. "RYOU!"

The thief punched the boy in the stomach, hard, earning a small gasp and then a whimper, Ryou's mouth twitching slightly. Bakura's mouth fell open as Ryou's head rolled to one side; the teen's body was utterly limp in his hands. Bakura growled low, shoving the boy back down, Ryou's body hitting the mattress, hard.

Bakura stormed out of the room, leaving the unconscious Ryou behind, and went back into his own soul room, collapsing onto his bed, glaring up at his ceiling. His mind was full of thoughts.

_I'm the only one. But what can I do?_

Bakura's scowl suddenly disappeared, and his eyes widened as a new wave of thoughts hit him.

_Is…he in a coma? What if he never wakes up? _Bakura thought, his stomach dropping. _Then what I do? Or what if he dies?_

_No. I'm just overacting. He's probably just weak and then he'll wake up and be fine._

But the more he thought about it, the more Bakura rejected the thought, remembering his host's deathly pale skin, almost matching the boy's albino hair, the slow breathing. He didn't even know how his heart was doing…

Bakura cursed under his breath.

* * *

Bakura was seated once more beside the bed, his face paling a little at the sight of his light… 

Ryou's skin was even paler than the day before, his chest barely moving as he breathed, white bangs falling over his eyes. Bakura reached out, managing to feel the albino's wrist before his hand went through the boy. His pulse was steady, but it sounded a bit weak to Bakura.

Bakura felt something rise into the pit of his stomach. He tried to force it away, but he couldn't.

Bakura felt a wave of sudden tiredness crash over him. He knew that his host being unconscious and in such a weak state was effecting his as well.

"You'd better wake up soon, Ryou."

Bakura stood, slowly going back inside the boy's body. Bakura paused in front of his soul room door, glancing over his shoulder at Ryou's own, the door closed.

"…You'd better," he muttered, opening the door to his room, and walked inside the pitch-black room, shutting the door behind him, leaving the hallway with utter silence.

* * *

Chapter 1: End. 

Well, what do you guys think? Good, bad? Personally, I don't think it's very good, but hey... Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: First off...this update took _forever, _I know. -.- First I had writers block, then the whole situation with wanting to get the Demons & Angels series done (which _is _finished now) so yeah... Sorry about that...

* * *

Bakura growled as he peered out of the window. He could see the darkness floating around the tower. Marik must have been playing more shadow duels…

He could remember his and Marik's duel as if it was just yesterday. He was the one thrown into the shadows. But he _was _the darkness. He couldn't be contained in the shadow realm for long.

He glanced at the paled Ryou. He knew that he was getting worse. Each day Bakura found himself even more exhausted. That meant his host was getting weaker too.

"…Those so called friends of yours…they make me _sick." _Bakura spat out the words, glaring at Ryou. "Why do you try to be their friend? They don't even know you're dying!" Bakura screamed, but realized that he was pretty much talking to a dead body. Ryou wouldn't and couldn't talk back. "…You just don't want to be alone, I bet." Bakura said the words softly, and stood.

He walked over to the bed, staring down at his hikari with unblinking eyes. "…You don't need them, Ryou. All they do is pretend to be there for you, but when something happens, they just go off in their own little worlds. They keep dropping you when you need help." Bakura paused for a second, before he turned on his heel. "You'd be better off alone than with fake people like them."

-

There was nothing there but utter darkness. He felt nothing; he was numb. He felt no emotions, and no pain, and it felt like he was merely floating…

He felt a tug, and a wave of pain washed over him, as if something was trying to awaken him. But he didn't want to leave this place; it made him feel at ease. And slowly, the tug on his mind went away, only to come back. He fought against the glint of light, and eventually he was left in nothingness and darkness once more.

Constantly, there was a muffled sound. So soft and quiet, as if trying to speak to him… But he could never hear what was being said. It was never clear enough.

* * *

Bakura coughed weakly as he staggered into the hallway, shutting the door to his soul room. He trudged towards Ryou's room. He was so tired…

Taking the handle, he flinched. It was icy cold, like a pool in winter. He removed his hand on instinct, but gritted his teeth, and opened the door, walking inside.

He instantly felt a chill run down his spine. Ryou's room was literally freezing. Bakura shuddered, making his way over to the bed where his host was.

He swore instantly in an undertone.

Ryou was deathly pale, as if a very corpse himself. There were smudges of dark circles under his closed eyes, and his breathing was off, and heavy. Bakura hesitated slightly, almost afraid. _Afraid? When was the Thief King ever afraid?_

He pulled down the sheets, and took Ryou's wrist.

He could hear his light's heartbeat in an instant. However, it bothered him how…_weak_ it sounded. He let the boy's arm fall to the bed, and stood there, staring at him with unblinking eyes.

Bakura growled. "Why won't you just wake up?" He slugged Ryou in the arm, making the boy cry out in pain in his unconsciousness. "Pathetic human…"

He could feel pain in his own arm. Normally that didn't happen when he hit his host's sleeping body. He pushed up the sleeve of his shirt, and frowned at the bruise that was already forming. He _never _bruised after hitting Ryou. _Never._

_This is bad. _Bakura swallowed thickly. _Then my body is weakening… My defenses have plummeted…_

He coughed, raising his hands to his lips on instinct. He stood there for at least a minute, coughing until he was positive he was going to throw up blood. But he never did.

The room was smudging. Bakura moaned, and shakily staggered across the room, seating himself on the windowsill of the single window in his light's soul room.

He was positive he was going to fall over and pass out. He felt like he was being smothered. The coughs were becoming more constant, nearly bringing tears to his eyes; they were so heavy and hard, and they _hurt. _He felt like he was partially choking on air.

"T…This…" he breathed the words between coughs, his eyes heavy, "…has got…to stop…"

* * *

It was getting more and more difficult to even get out of bed.

Bakura almost whimpered as he put his feet to the floor of his soul room. He hurt all over, and the room had grown notably colder. The sheets on the bed were starting to not be enough to keep him warm…

He could feel himself growing weaker and weaker: more and more exhausted. He could barely even make it to Ryou's soul room anymore without having to stop or use a wall for support.

He staggered into Ryou's room, panting already. He made his way over to the bed.

Ryou looked as if he was withering away into nothing. His hair was matted, his skin deathly pale. The circles under his eyes were still there. Bakura thought that he almost looked smaller… Shorter, skinnier…

It made him angry just _looking_ at his host.

All that it did was remind him of the situation: those so called 'friends' his hikari had, that never took notice of the difficulties his light was going through. It angered him how Ryou was never close, but always had a ridge of separation between him and the others. They always said they were friends… Yet where were they now?

Bakura sat down on the chair he had pulled up to the bed to rest. His eyes narrowed in memory.

During Battle City, he had constantly driven Ryou out of his body to find what he was after. Even during those times when Ryou was with another person, and when Bakura took over and went elsewhere… They never even bothered to try to find him…

And when he was cut… Where were they when his hikari was in the hospital?

Bakura snarled. Even thinking about it made him angry. In frustration, and without even thinking about it, he was on his feet, and roughly made his fist collide with Ryou's stomach.

Ryou cried out in pain, and Bakura's eyes widened as a flame of pain alit in his own stomach. He pulled away, and winced, lifting his shirt slightly. There was a large bruise forming already.

Bakura dropped back into the chair, and sighed. The bruises were coming more and more often. Even the slightest, lightest touch against his hikari's body brought a bruise.

That meant both of their bodies were growing weaker at a rapid pace.

Bakura swore, slumping in the chair. "Things are just getting better and _better…_"

* * *

He couldn't breathe.

Bakura broke into a coughing fit, hacking and gasping for breath. He didn't make it to Ryou's bed, or the chair beside it.

He collapsed to the floor, on his knees. He couldn't even hold himself up then. His legs went out from underneath him and his body slid to the freezing, tile floor.

His eyes weren't that dark brown, crimson tinted color anymore. They were being swallowed in black; exhaustion and weakness was taking over. He didn't have the strength anymore…

_//Ryou…wake up already… You're going to kill us both…//_

There wasn't an answer.

Swearing lowly, Bakura strained, putting himself on shaking arms, managing to get himself back on his hands and knees.

He could hear coughing.

He staggered to his feet, panting, out of breath, and one eye closed in pain. He glanced at Ryou's bed. He wasn't the source.

Bakura frowned, before his eyes widened. _No._

Taking what very little magic and strength he had left, he forced himself to create a false form.

His false form was in Ryou's registered room. He glanced out of the window. The darkness had grown thicker, larger… Bakura mentally snarled, but his thoughts were interrupted. The coughing was happening again.

He turned, seeing his light curled up under the covers, coughing: sounding like he was on the border of spitting up blood.

Bakura took a step back, feeling pain in his chest. It wasn't long before his strength completely ran out, and his false form vanished, dissolving.

He found himself on the floor again. This time he couldn't even get on his hands and knees.

_//Ryou…open your eyes already…//_

Bakura was sure he almost sounded desperate. Normally this wouldn't happen…but now his life dangled with Ryou's. _If he dies…I'm going to die with him…_

_I'll be stuck in the ring…until my next destined host comes along…_

He didn't want to find out how long that would take.

…_But what can I do…?_

_

* * *

_

Chapter 2: End.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This fic was just sort of dangling for a while... I had a severe case of writer's block for it, I didn't really like my writing for the previous chapters, and other things... But going back and rereading it, along with the reviews, it sort of kicked me back into gear for this fic. So I hope you guys like the final chapter that you've been waiting so patiently for!

* * *

Bakura swore quietly, staggering into the room before falling to his knees. It was happening more and more now… He often felt like he was being suffocated, unable to breathe…

He could see Ryou now… Getting weaker and weaker every day… He could constantly hear his light coughing in the bed, until he sounded as if he was going to throw up…

Gasping, Bakura leaned heavily against the bed frame. The room spun a few times, and Bakura coughed weakly into his hands before sinking onto the bed and cupping his head in his hands.

It was going completely wrong…

He had planned this all from the beginning. His duel with the Pharaoh was supposed to be a _victory, _not a _loss. _On top of it, his host was practically dying but no one was noticing. This left another dent in his planning, meaning that without either of the two souls having enough energy to withhold control on the body, it was going to be deemed impossible to have the opportunity to duel Marik before the final match up. That is, if the finals weren't already in progress. He had lost track of time again…

Ryou started coughing then, snapping the spirit out of his thoughts. If he could possibly get Ryou to awaken before the finals, then he could get everything sorted out. But it seemed impossible…

The smallest prick of fear pierced Bakura's heart.

_The Pharaoh is already in this world. If my host dies away, then I'll be stuck in the Sennen Ring again… But I don't know how much longer it could possibly take to find a new host… It could be thousands of more years… By then the Pharaoh would be far out of my reach… This isn't working… I have to find a way to either awaken my host or find more energy to retain my control… If I could find the Sennen Ring… But I can't even get in the body to look for the Ring… Maybe if I tried a false form I could stake it out… But what if my energy runs out? I'll be thrown right back in here… I can't afford to waste energy…_

He was almost afraid to touch his hikari now. After even putting a hand on his form, it brought bruises. But with time passing, what would a touch bring this time? After all, that had seemed like days ago…

He couldn't think of anything. No plans or anything… His eyes were growing heavy, and in a desperate attempt to try to gain energy, he fell asleep.

* * *

He dreamed that time. It had been many, many years since he had dreamed of anything. Often, his dreams were darkness, and he couldn't remember them…

He dreamed of that fatal battle… The one that cast him into the darkness for those thousands of years… He dreamed of the fires and war and blood that pushed him to the border of insanity, and he'd been teetering there ever since… Ever since the day the village was destroyed…

It didn't bother his emotions much to think about it. The only thing that was stirred up was anger. But he tried not to let his anger overpower his mind. Often it left him wasting so much strength he could barely stand, and sometimes he would just destroy anything in the way.

He couldn't afford that to happen at a time like this…

Ryou's harsh coughing snapped him from his thoughts. Fear pricked his mind again. He tried to push it away.

He always found fear a weakness. A mere figment of the imagination… He found that fear was never real. There was no reason to be afraid of _anything_. But why was he so worried about it?

…_If Ryou dies, my life will go as well. I'll be banished to the Ring until my next host…_

But there was nothing he could do. He was too weak, too exhausted to even walk anymore… Perhaps it was over once more?

-

The darkness was growing. Earlier it seemed peaceful, so blissfully quiet… But now it seemed to be suffocating his consciousness, making it as if he couldn't breathe. And it seemed like each minute the strangling grew.

He didn't know how much more he could take…

It somewhat reminded him of those nightmares he had after losing his mother and sister. The dreams contained no people. They merely had scenery and darkness. Yet without there being voices, without other beings, the dreams terrified him.

Mainly… He thought they were a take on their deaths. He was fearful of becoming even more alone…

And that's what was happening now.

There were no people in the darkness. He couldn't find any forms of life. He couldn't even find _himself_. It was like he was viewing from the body of a ghost.

But that little muffled sound would come quite often. It sounded weak, and hoarse. He could never understand its words. But the muffled sound seemed to be trying to speak to him, trying to talk, trying to get him to talk back to it…

Sometimes he thought it was trying to get him out of the darkness…

But without a voice, without a body, without a soul, how was that even possible?

But for some reason, that little muffled noise brought him comfort. He had started to panic not too long ago. Mainly, his panic was from not knowing where he was, being alone, fearing, and the return of the memories… But the noise brought slight relaxation, almost like a personal sanctuary inside his brain…

And for some reason, the sound resembled a voice. A voice that sounded eerily familiar to a one he had heard back during the hours in his real body…

* * *

He couldn't take it anymore.

He had started to cough so hard he couldn't breathe, so close to vomiting up blood, despite that he had no real blood to do so… It just hurt so badly…

He had forgotten what pain felt like, somewhat. He still felt pain deep inside, from the memories, and the pain of hatred that coursed through his veins… But physical pain was a mere foggy memory. Shadow games didn't really hurt as much. Of course, it pricked his senses in a painful type of way, but being the darkness, it didn't hurt that much.

But this pain was very much different.

And he couldn't take it much longer. He had to find a way to save both Ryou and himself, and fast, before everything fell apart completely.

There was merely one thing he could think of to do.

He forced himself to stand up, but had to grasp the railing of Ryou's bedpost to support himself. His knees were shaking, his entire body trembling. He coughed once, hard, into his hands, before looking down at his host.

Ryou looked far worse than he did.

Being the darkness, Bakura apparently had it easier. Ryou, however, was the hikari. The darkness of the shadow duels was apparently feasting on the light of his soul, making it so much harder for the albino to handle.

Bakura knew it wouldn't take much more to make his host break…

It was useless to wait for those so-called 'friends' to save Ryou. Bakura knew. He wasn't stupid. He could see perfectly fine through his hikari's eyes. They were never there for him… What made it even possible for them to realize Ryou was teetering on the border of death?

Nothing.

Bakura growled before coughing hard into his hands again, before looking down at his severely pale hikari. There was nothing else he could possibly do to let the boy hang on to life until the duels were over…

He put his hand a little above the boy's chest, and using what he could, he activated his magic. And slowly, he transferred what strength he had left to his host's fragile form.

The world was plummeting into pure darkness, stained with a white light. Not death but not life. Perhaps it was nothing more than pit of unconsciousness for spirits like him…

He was empty. He had no strength left in his form…

His host cried out then, and Bakura was positive it was in pain. His form began fading from the soul room then, and he smiled slightly down at his host. "I'll come back. This isn't over, little Yadonushi, not by a long shot…"

* * *

The darkness was fading away. Ryou fought against the blinding light, but it was impossible to ignore it.

Suddenly the darkness gave away to a dim light, surrounded with the pieces of a blurry room. He looked around slightly.

His memory was in shambles. It was hard to remember anything. But he could remember Orsis… There was a duel… Right?

With a cry, Ryou managed to prop himself up on his elbows, and glanced out of the window nearby. A vicious shadow of black clouds was slowly fading away.

For some reason, a weird feeling was inside of him. He felt empty, especially his mind… Like something was missing…

Struggling a little, he managed to get to his feet, and stared out of the window as the clouds faded. For some reason, he was positive he saw a man in front of him during that duel… A man that looked just like he did, but resembled a demon in some twisted way… Or was it all just his imagination?

He never realized that man – that so called demon - was sleeping inside his soul at that very moment, exhausted to the core from giving up the rest of his strength to let his own spirit live on…

* * *

Chapter 3: End.

A/N: THE END. (Finally, after so long of a wait. -.- )

Well, I hope you guys liked it. I know the chapters weren't as long as in my other fanfics, but at least you guys still supported me! Honestly, without you guys this story probably wouldn't have been finished! I hope to see you guys next time!

Much love!

-Clouded-Days


End file.
